YuGiOh: An afterward
by Catch 23
Summary: So Atem is dead. That’s the end of the story, right? Well that’s what Yugi thought. Could he have been any more wrong?


YuGiOh - An Afterward

Summary: So Atem is dead. That's the end, right? Well that's what Yugi thought. Could he have been any more wrong?

Author's notes: I think some neurones are misfiring or something, cause I have no idea where this came from.

Warnings: No parings planned. But then I plan nothing. We'll just have to see how it goes.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Deal with it.

Chapter one – Out of the woods

_So…he's dead. I keep saying it, over and over, but it still doesn't mean anything. I guess it will take a while to sink in._

_I think Anzu took it hardest. She was in love with him after all. But she'll cope. She's so much stronger than everyone thinks. Stronger than me, anyway. But then there are pieces of wet tissue tougher than I am. _

_I don't know what Jounuchi feels. I've hardly spoken to him. I've come to realise over the past few weeks that he was really Atem's friend anyway. He only stopped bullying me because of that stupid puzzle. And now the spirit is gone, I'm just the same loser that I always was. The same freak he despised. The same goes for Honda, really. He was always Jou's friend more than mine._

_And me…? I don't know how I feel. I'll miss him, sure, but I think it's almost a relief. I can finally be my own person, not just the pharaoh's wimpy shadow. For all that crap about supporting each other, he never needed me. I was just the vessel. _

_I didn't want any of this mystic crap. When I solved the puzzle, all I wanted was a friend. Well, I certainly found those…_

_We all gave up on those stupid games pretty much simultaneously. We didn't officially decide anything. It just happened. It was always his thing and, without him, what would be the point? I sold my deck on e-bay for an insane amount of money. All those memories in exchange for a few billion yen. I felt disgusted with myself, but whatever. He won't need them where he's going. _

_I think maybe Kaiba was right all along. They'll change your life if you let them but, when all's said and done, they're just pieces of paper. A lot like money really. So all I really did was exchange some paper with an imaginary value for some different paper with an imaginary value. I can almost make it sound reasonable when I put it like that. As if I haven't sold a part of my soul. Ha. I almost forgot the melodrama. That's something else I'm not going to miss._

_I guess the only person that's reacted positively is Kaiba. With no rival to snarl at, he's become a lot less neurotic and has almost started acting like a normal human being. He's stopped duelling like the rest of us, and I can't honestly say I'm surprised…But whatever. I don't know what he really thinks about it either, but then when has anyone ever had any idea about what goes on in his head?_

_I don't know why all this didn't occur to me before, but now it has, I can't stop thinking about it. We're seventeen. We should be thinking about homework and sex, not magic card games that decide the fate of the universe. I'm not going to miss that._

_But it's all over now. We're out of the woods. He's gone and we can just get on with our lives, right? Because now I can finally have one of my own._

Yugi put down his pen and closed the diary.

In the months to come he would look at that entry and not know whether to laugh or cry.

Because some woods are endless, and, once you're lost, you can never find a way out.

To be continued…

Whoa. I just read that back, and Yugi sounds so bitter. I intended for him to sound more pensive, but he's really quite condemning. Oh well. I plan to make him more of a character, and not just a passive little shell that occasionally yells support from the sidelines. Same for everyone, really. I feel especially sorry for poor Honda. Could he have less of a personality?

Anyhoo, this was just the prelude. The real story will begin next chapter. Stay tuned. Or don't.

Loved it? Loathed it? Have a question, comment or death threat? Then review.


End file.
